As it voiced deep concern over the harsh verdicts against Bahraini right activists, Tehran urged Manama to respect the legitimate rights of its people.

As it voiced deep concern over the harsh verdicts against Bahraini right activists, Tehran urged Manama to respect the legitimate rights of its people.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, said the sentences were a continuation of the regime’s “wrong and fruitless policy” of suppressing the Bahraini people’s peaceful protests.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Bahraini court upheld the verdicts of 13 leading opposition figures who had previously been convicted by a military tribunal of “plotting to overthrow the monarchy.”

Seven of the activists, including the prominent human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, had been given life sentences by the military court.

Mehmanparast pointed to the blatant violation of human rights in Bahrain and called on the Manama government to respect the basic rights of its people.

As already announced, the Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the only solution to [solve] the Bahraini crisis and restore stability and security to the country is [for the Bahraini government] to respond responsibly to the people’s legitimate demands,” he said.

Several international rights groups condemned the verdicts, with Amnesty International has called on the Bahraini regime to quickly release the activists, saying the verdicts were “outrageous.”